Lappe sees important defensive improvement in sophomore

Colorado figured that a healthy Jen Reese would be a good asset to its women's basketball team.

So far, Reese has been one of the Buffs' most valuable players.

Entering Wednesday night's rivalry game against Colorado State (2-4), Reese is averaging 10 points and six rebounds per game off the bench for the undefeated Buffs (6-0).

"I feel like I'm doing pretty well compared to last year," she said. "I'm just more confident in my game. I just feel like I know the game more at the college level and that's helped a lot."

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Reese has been a key member of the team since arriving last year. She played 24 minutes in the 2011-12 season opener and, by mid season, worked her way into the starting lineup. An eye injury ended her season early, but she still finished with a solid 7.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

This season, she has yet to start a game, but has become CU's top reserve. She ranks third on the team in scoring and rebounds, has improved her field goal and free throw shooting and has produced just four turnovers in the last five games.

Deajanae Scurry, left, of SDSU, and Jen Reese of Colorado, battle for a rebound during a game last month.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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Head coach Linda Lappe has noticed a much better Reese this season and gives plenty of reasons for it.

"Her aggressiveness is definitely better," Lappe said. "She wants the ball on the low block. When she does that, we're a tough team to guard. She's not necessarily always going to score it, but we like the ball in her hands because she's going to make great decisions."

In addition to being a threat on offense and one of the team's better passers, Reese has shown great improvement on defense.

"I think the reason Jen has had most of her success this year is because we can keep her on the floor because she'll defend," Lappe said. "She's not a liability for us defensively anymore like she maybe was at times last year."

Reese said her injury motivated her to work harder over the summer, and she's seeing the benefits of that work now.

While she's no longer a starter, she and the Buffs are thriving with her coming off the bench.

"I actually like coming off the bench, seeing how the game's going," said Reese, who tied her career high with 15 points against Illinois on Saturday. "It's good to see it first. I like it so far."

Lappe does, too, so Reese's role may not change for a while.

"I really like Jen coming off the bench because she's a great punch off the bench," Lappe said. "You bring her in after a couple of minutes and the other team maybe is a little bit tired and she's fresh."

CU is hoping Reese and the rest of the team continues its strong start to the season Wednesday night against the Rams. The game, which starts at 5:50 p.m., will be followed by the CU-CSU men's game at 8:30 p.m.

"It's always a big game playing our rivalry team, and there's going to be a huge crowd," Reese said. "It's going to be a great game, great atmosphere."

CU comes in with a six-game win streak, while CSU has a three-game losing streak, but Lappe said that doesn't matter.

"We're going to have to be ready to play our best," Lappe said. "We're going to have to be ready to defend, rebound and run in transition. They're going to do some different things defensively on us that maybe we haven't seen as much.

"It's going to be an exciting game. We'll never take this game for granted. That's why it makes it exciting."

Notable

Reese is one of just four CU players that has not been in the starting lineup at least once this year. The other three -- Alexus Atchley, Lauren Huggins and Ky Weston -- are true freshmen. ... A total of nine players from Colorado high schools will take part in this game, five from CSU and four from CU. Among those is CSU senior Meghan Heimstra, a graduate of Silver Creek High School in Longmont.

Follow Brian on Twitter: @BrianHowell33.

WEDNESDAY: The Colorado Buffaloes (6-0) host the Colorado State Rams (2-4) in a 5:50 p.m. game at Coors Events Center in Boulder.

STORYLINES: CU is off to a 6-0 start for the second year in a row. ... The Buffs have won 19 consecutive regular season non-conference games and are 26-4 in those games under head coach Linda Lappe. ... Last year, CU beat the Rams 72-53 in Fort Collins. Chucky Jeffery, Lexy Kresl and Meagan Malcolm-Peck all scored at least 12 points for the Buffs. ... In three career games against CSU, Jeffery has averaged 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds and Malcolm-Peck has averaged 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. ... CU averages 71.2 points per game, while CSU averages 55.0. ... CSU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak. ... Freshman guard Caitlin Duffy leads the Rams with 9.3 points per game, despite coming off the bench.

KEY STAT: CU leads the Pac-12 with 11.7 steals per game and has scored 31.1 percent of its points (133 of 427) off of turnovers. CSU allows 10.3 steals per game.

COACHES: Linda Lappe is 45-30 in her third season at CU and 95-66 overall. Ryun Williams is 2-4 in his first season at CSU and 260-157 for his career.

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